The following is a list of patents which may be of interest for general background information:
Patent No.Inventor(s)Issue Date3,129,771Lidstone21 Apr. 19644,242,794Peterson06 Jan. 19814,286,675Tuggle01 Sep. 19814,501,332Straayer26 Feb. 19854,856,194Lee15 Aug. 19894,862,682Wait et al05 Sep. 19895,092,112Buckendorf, Jr.03 Mar. 19925,303,476Tuggle19 Apr. 19945,345,788Jerry13 Sep. 19945,361,570Bernardy08 Nov. 19945,426,852Macomber27 Jun. 19955,430,943Lee11 Jul. 19955,489,889Kambouris et al06 Feb. 19965,491,963Jerez20 Feb. 19965,493,783Oostendorp27 Feb. 19965,615,543Caffey, et al01 Apr. 11975,617,636Taggert, et al08 Apr. 19975,622,035Kondo, et al22 Apr. 19975,651,418Jerez29 Jul. 19975,722,172Walden03 Mar. 19985,761,892Quiroga09 Jun. 19985,881,464Collins et al16 Mar. 19996,038,842Quiroga21 Mar. 20006,247,539Jerez19 Jun. 20016,457,242Fogle01 Oct. 20026,519,857Proulx et al18 Feb. 20036,594,907Wilson et al22 Jul. 20036,643,938Livingston11 Nov. 20036,722,040Sullivan20 Apr. 2004
However, in this relatively “crowded” art, there are substantial, innovative, “unobvious” differences between the present invention and the prior art, as brought out more fully below. It is believed that the present invention represents an innovative, substantial advance in the prior art and a valuable contribution to the “useful arts.”